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Rogue Property Developer Jailed for Defrauding British Families
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
A German property developer has been jailed by a Spanish court for defrauding seven British families out of over half a million pounds.
Heinz Wilfert was sentenced to six years in prison at a hearing in Alicante, after he conned investors by telling them he was building homes that were never built.
One of the British couples he defrauded had paid him more than £100,000 for a property near Benidorm, the court heard.
Judges said that Wilfert knew it was “highly improbably” that building work would even start when he made the written promise to the families.
It was concluded that Wilfert behaved to “enrich himself with the money the buyers paid him.”1
The houses were never built, but were supposed to be on an estate called Oasis Verde.
The court acquitted two men who bought Wilfert’s firm after the scam. One man was the owner of the land the properties were planned for.
Spanish developer Miguel Muntaner offered the victims alternative homes nearby at an extra fee, but they all declined.
In a written ruling, judges said that there is no evidence for Muntaner and his associate knowing about the fraud, as the victims admitted to only dealing with Wilfert.
